MCA Advisory, February 2008

Volume 11 Number 2

February 2008

Board Members

John W. Adams, President
John Sallay, Vice President
Barry D. Tayman, Treasurer
Vicken Yegparian, Secretary
David T. Alexander
Robert F. Fritsch
David Menchell
Scott Miller
Ira Rezak
Donald Scarinci
Michael Turrini
Benjamin Weiss

John W. Adams, Editor

99 High Street, 11 th floor
Boston, MA 02110
iohn.ad ams@ canaccor d adams.com

Barry Tayman, Treasurer
3115 Nestling Pine Court
Ellicott City, MD 21042
bdtayman@verizon.n et

Benjamin Weiss, Webmaster

benweiss.org@comcast.net

Website- medalcollectors.org

Editor of Collectors’ Guide, Dick Johnson
( dick.jo h nson@snet.net)

Dues- $20. 00/Year $35.00/2 years

What’s New on Our Website!

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE EVERY MONTH

www.medalcollectors.org

From the Editor 2

Webmaster’s Report (by Ben Weiss) 2

Samuel C. Pennington’s Obituary 3

Edward F. Cragin And The 1889
Centennial of Washington’s
Inauguration (George Fuld) 6

Letters to the Editor 8

From the Editor

This is an exciting time for Medal
Collectors of America. Your Board has been
meeting regularly to map out our future. John
Sallay is in charge of this thrust and will be
reporting on a regular basis.

I am delighted to announce the
availability of an off print of the Truxtun
article. Signed by its three authors, Chris
Neuzil, Lenny Vaccaro and Todd Creekman,. it
features full page versions of each image as
well as simple column (i.e. full page) text. This
truly special edition limited to 25 numbered
copies, is now available at $50.00, checks to
MCA care of Barry Tayman.

Older members will recall offprints of
David Menchell’s series on the medals of the
French and Indian War, also David Alexander’s
definitive treatment of the SOM medals. We
have half a dozen copies of each of these fine
works available at $35.00 each.

We received a solid response to our
request for help on a book on the Admiral
Vernon’s. Erik Goldstein supplied a new
variety as well as images of Vernon on a
pitcher in the collection of Colonial
Williamsburg. Chris Eimer sent us images of
Admiral Vernon on a silver soup ladle. Alvan
Markle gets the prize for first to respond;
Warren Lloyd gets the prize for his impressive
list of medals owned including an image of that
great rarity MG 108. Stacks Americana sale
contributed a new (and, thankfully, under
described) variety. Most astounding of all, Dr.
C. of Argentina volunteered Jorge Ferrari ’s
unpublished manuscript on the Vernon series
which, we suspect, will roll our socks down.

One of the delights of medal collecting
is its international dimension as best
exemplified, perhaps, by the recent FIDEM
Congress. So too with decorations where the
British auction houses most often lead the
parade. Last month, Canada chimed in with its
own contribution, the second specimen known
of the “British Resentment” medal, Betts 584.
Betts devotees will recall the Titanic

competition for the first specimen (in silver)
between Lucien LaRiviera and John Ford.
Lucien won out but John was able to recoup
when the LaRiviera collection, came to market.
When, in turn, Ford sold his collection this item
fetched no less than $32,000 at the hammer.

The Canadian example, the first we have seen
in bronze, slept its way to some lucky buyer at
$1,050. Our hobby is not only international, it
is filled with surprises.

Webmaster’s Report

(by Ben Weiss)

The past year 2007 began a significant
expansion of our website to include:

1) The listing of back issues of the
MCA Advisory .

2) The completion of three series of
medals: The American Art Union ; The Society
of Medallists ; and the Hall of Fame for Great
Americans .

3) A new feature of Links to some thirty
Medal Collections on the Web.

4) A new feature of Links to Medal
Organizations .

5) New features of Links to a
Comprehensive List of Reference Material and
Annotated, Selected Lists of Reference
Material relevant to medal collectors.

6) Listing of Meetings and Shows of
interest to medal collectors.

7) New books and other information of
interest to our members.

Anyone who has additional information
on any of the above, please let me know so I
can add them to our site.

For the new year 2008 we plan to
expand the website further to add major new
dimensions to it in order to further enhance its
usefulness and interest.

1) We plan to have a section called
Members’ Medals where members may submit
images and descriptions to the Webmaster for
posting on the website. The submitted images

2

should be of high quality and should be deemed
of sufficient interest to other members. This
new feature will be limited to current members
of the MCA.

2) We plan to add a Collectors’ Forum
where individuals may submit questions or
comments about medals. These should be
submitted to the Webmaster for editing and
relevance. Answers to these questions may be
sent to the Webmaster for posting. This section
of the website is open to all who are interested
in learning more about their medals or who
wish to comment on them.

These latter new features are still in the
planning stage. Therefore, all comments,
suggestions, additions, etc., are welcomed.
Please be reminded that this is YOUR website,
and I would like to have as much input from
our members as possible. My goal is to make
our site dynamic, informative, interesting,
educational, and just plain fun to view.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the
enormous help and advice received from Sam
Pennington and for the generosity of Heath
MacAlpine in supplying so many medal
images. I also appreciate the recent offers of
help from several other members in setting up
the new features on our website.

Please be sure to visit:
www.medalcollectors.org

Best wishes,

Ben

Samuel C. Pennington, Publisher of

Maine Antique Digest, 1929-2008

(by Art Mayers and Clayton Pennington)

Samuel Charles Pennington III died on
February 2, 2008, at Miles Memorial Hospital
in Damariscotta, Maine.

Pennington was born on September 18,
1929, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Agnes
Johnston Pennington and Samuel Charles

Pennington, Jr. He grew up in Baltimore in an
1850’s house that his family shared with his
great-aunt and grandmother.

He was educated at Calvert School in
Baltimore, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter,
New Hampshire, and Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore, all on scholarship.

Pennington joined the Air Force after
graduating from college and trained as a
navigator-bombardier on KC-135s and B-36s.
His tours of duty included Newfoundland,
Vietnam, Thailand, Guam, and Labrador, as
well as Loring Air Force Base (Limestone,
Maine), Carswell AFB (Fort Worth, Texas),
Barksdale AFB (Shreveport, Louisiana), and
Dow AFB (Bangor, Maine). Pennington served
21 years in the military.

While at Carswell, he met Sally
Clayton. They were married on April 26, 1958.
The couple had five children and 1 1
grandchildren.

While Pennington was stationed in
Bangor, Maine, in the late 1960’s, the couple
ran an antiques shop part time. They
specialized in early American painted furniture.
Pennington would often tell the story of the
time a woman from New York City wandered
into the shop, looked around, and asked
incredulously, “How come everything in here is
so old?”

The Penningtons grew frustrated when
they couldn’t find a reliable source of
information about the pieces they were buying
and selling.

After retirement in 1973, they settled in
Waldoboro, Maine, in the Waterman house on
Friendship Road. The Watermans had lived in
the house from 1775 until 1932. The
Penningtons were only the third family to live
in the early Georgian home.

In November 1973, Sam and Sally
Pennington launched the Maine Antique Digest
from the kitchen of their Waldoboro home.

A “from the Editor” note in the first
issue read, “It is with some trepidation, but a
deep sense of pride that I launch this

3

publication... As to our purposes and aims, we
shall try to be both enlightening and
entertaining in covering the Maine antiques
scene. Our particular fascination is with the
people in the antique business and the ebb and
flow of goods in the antique market. The
people are fascinating, complex, simple,
devious, open, flamboyant, learned, dense,
stubborn, all of these and more, but with a rich
store of stories to tell and knowledge to
share. . .Here in Maine, we are really on the last
frontier of the business. . .We will try to
examine some of the problem areas of the
business such as fakes, thefts, lack of retail
trade, and whatever else comes our way. We
shall try to be forthright and call them as we
see them, favoring neither collector nor dealer
in this rather wonderful, fun game of antiques.”

In 1976 Sally Pennington told a
reporter, “We put out the first three issues with
one portable typewriter, using the kitchen for
an office. We got our five kids and their school
friends to do the wrapping, addressing, and
mailing.”

In the early years, Pennington did
plenty of travel, running a route from Vermont
to Connecticut, photographing antiques and
selling ads. For eight years, he traveled with a
Bronica camera, lights, and background paper.

Because he was the sole writer and
photographer in the early days of M.A.D., he
once employed a pen name, “Lance Poulet,”
French, he thought at the time, for “chicken on
a stick,” harking back to M.A.D.’ s distinctive
weathervane logo. Years later, he learned
Lance Poulet was slang for “prostitute on a
stick.”

From the earliest days, the children took
an active part in the publication of M.A.D. The
black-and-white newsprint tabloid now runs
about 250 pages and has a readership of some
25,000 dealers, auctioneers, and collectors.

From the beginning, Maine Antique
Digest has examined the marketplace. In a
2000 interview for Maine Times, Pennington
said, “Prices are everything in the antique

business, yet you couldn’t get much good
information back then, and there was only this
dinky little price guide, where the prices never
changed, year after year. . .It wasn’t until later
that we found out the owner [of the price guide]
had rigged the prices because he was a
collector and liked them low.”

Pennington remarked about the trade,
“The antiques business has everything but
sex — and they don’t have time for that. There’s
greed, chicanery, money,
covetousness... There’s an appreciation of the
artifacts of the past. Working in this business,
there’s a lot of drama.”

In an article in Johns Hopkins
Magazine, Wendell D. Garrett, senior vice
president of Americana at Sotheby’s and
editor-at-large for The Magazine Antiques,
said: “The brilliance of Sam Pennington is that
this was a market that wasn’t being taken care
of before M.A.D... . What Sam created is like the
People magazine of the business.”

“There are people who adore him,” Lita
Solis-Cohen, senior editor of M.A.D., said of
Pennington, in the same article. “There are
people who are furious at him because he’s so
honest. And there are people who are afraid of
him because of the power of his pen.

For a short while, the Penningtons also
published the Waldoboro Weekly.

Pennington served on the SAD 40
school board for many years, including several
years as its chairman. As the chairman he
guided the board with an even hand although
his bias was to provide every student the
funding needed to secure a superior education.
He supported organizations that raised money
to augment SAD 40 programs targeted toward
teachers and students.

In 2000 he and Sally endowed the
Maine Antique Digest Scholarship Fund, an
annual award to a graduate of Medomak Valley
High School in Waldoboro entering
postsecondary school in one of the “useful”
trades, such as but not limited to building,
automotive, and graphic arts. Pennington often

4

remarked about the scholarship, which he
hoped would result in a more vibrant
Waldoboro, “The world has too many lawyers;
we need more plumbers.”

In October 2006, he was honored by the
Maine Antiques Dealers Association “for his
contribution to the world of antiques in Maine
and beyond.” Nancy Glazer, then president of
MAD A, spoke at the ceremony and said,

“. ..[M.A.D.] quickly became our bible and our
guide through the turbulent and exhilarating
waters of antiques.”

He was a collector of the works of
Maine artists and held collections of medals
and aviation memorabilia.

Pennington was a Waldoboro
representative on the board of Lincoln County
Television and served as the board chairman
for several years until his failing health caused
him to step down in January. For several years
he and Art Mayers co-hosted a weekly
interview, news, and opinion show on LCTV,
News With Sam & Art.

He believed in local philanthropy and
was an active member of the Democratic Party.
In spite of poor health in the last few months,
Pennington faithfully went daily to his office at
the Maine Antique Digest to oversee its
operation and work on his ongoing projects,
television show, and philanthropies.

He was fond of saying that old age is
not for sissies.

Pennington is survived by his wife,
Sally Pennington; his children, Katherine
Pennington and her husband, Nicholas
Azzaretti, of Newcastle, Maine; Nellie
Pennington and her husband, Nathan Hine, of
South Strafford, Vermont; Sarah McCleary of
Georgetown, Texas; Samuel Clayton
Pennington and his wife, Shane, of Nobleboro,
Maine; and Mary Pennington and her husband,
David O’Connor, of Durham, Maine; and by
grandchildren Calen Pennington of Somerville,
Massachusetts; Hannah Pennington of Orono,
Maine; Allison McCleary of Portland, Maine;
Chiara and Salvatore Azzaretti of Newcastle,

Maine; Anne McCleary of Gray, Maine; Amos
Hine of South Strafford, Vermont; Amelia and
Olivia Pennington of Nobleboro, Maine; and
Leo and Maysa O’Connor of Durham, Maine.
He is also survived by a brother, Christopher
Pennington, and his wife, Deborah, and their
son Andrew of Catonsville, Maryland.

He was predeceased by a sister, Agnes
Benziger.

Gifts in his memory may be made to
Southern Maine Community College, SMCC
Foundation, General Scholarship Fund, 2 Fort
Road, South Portland, ME 04106; the
Waldoboro Food Pantry, 97 Friendship Road,
Waldoboro, ME 04572; or the Waldoboro
Public Library, PO Box 768, Waldoboro, ME
04572.

A memorial service will be held
Saturday, March 1, at 2 p.m. at the Waldo
Theatre, 916 Main Street, Waldoboro. A
reception will follow at the Maine Antique
Digest building, 911 Main Street. (Snow date is
Sunday, March 2.)

5

[This wonderful writeup of Sam’s life comes
to us courtesy of the Maine Antique Digest.
Dave Bowers will comment on the man’s
numismatic contributions in the March
issue. — ed.]

Edward F. Cragin And The 1889
Centennial of Washington’s

Inauguration (by George Fuld)

The late Susan Douglas published a
major article in The Numismatist of 1949,
describing the medals issued for the 1889
Centennial of Washington’s inauguration. The
article was remarkably complete with only a
few medals that have been described since.

One medal, the 1889 St. Gaudens issue,
Douglas 53, in gold sold for $391,000 in the
Norweb sale of 2006. A newly discovered
pattern piece of the St. Gaudens medal was
offered by Stacks in their Americana sale of
January 16-17, 2007 as lot 6824.

The only other major addition,
described is the Edward F. Cragin medal,
assigned Douglas 63 by Rulau and Fuld. This
medal was listed in the first edition of Baker’s
Medallic Portraits of Washington in 1985.
Rulau and Fuld reported this newly found
medal, struck in white metal, in the collection
of Leon Hendrickson. A copper specimen of
the medal was sold in an auction sale about
2004, and more recently in the Coin Galleries
sale of December 13, 2007 as lot 2002. This
copper specimen came from the Gorham
Company archives and sold for $920. The
medal is shown in Figure 1, courtesy of Stacks.

On the obverse there is a reproduction
of Douglas 5 1 issued for the Chicago
commemoration, with the obverse and reverse
appearing side by side across the center, a
standing angel with wings outspread above,
U.S. shield draped with six flags and crested
with an eagle displayed below. The reverse
reads, TO EDWARD F. CRAGIN / (branch) /

IN RECOG-NITION OF / HIS VALUABLE
SERVICES / IN ORIGINATING AND
PLANNING / THE PATRIOTIC
OBSERVANCE AT / CHICAGO OF THE
CENTENNIAL / OF THE NATION’S /
BIRTHDAY / *** FROM HIS FRIENDS
AND COLABORERS *** The word
“colaborers” minus a hyphen after CO seems at
first glance to be poor grammar but on
reflection is a happy choice. It was struck by
Childs & Co. of Chicago.

It is worthwhile to speculate why the
1889 Centennial created such widespread
interest, especially in New York and Chicago.
There were only five medals issued for
Washington’s birth Centennial in 1832. There
were about thirteen medals issued for
Washington’s death Centennial in 1899. There
are well over one hundred medals issued for the
Bicentennial of Washington’s birth in 1932.
There are only a few issues for the Bicentennial
of Washington’s death in 1999. Medals for the
Bicentennial of Washington’s inauguration in
1989 are virtually unknown. However, the
medals issued for the 1889 Centennial number
about 75 and are a major outpouring of well
designed and diverse issues.

The celebration of the Centennial in
1889 was a major event in New York. About
half of the 1889 medals were produced for the
New York event. A book was published in
1892, edited by Clarence Winthrop Bowen
entitled The History of the Centennial
Celebration of George Washington as First
President of the United States. It is a large
volume of some 675 pages. On the cover of the
book, is a gold foil replica of the St. Gaudens
1889 medal, Douglas 53.

Not to be outdone, the city of Chicago
held a major event for the Centennial. A book
was published entitled The Nations Birthday
Chicago s Celebration of Washington ’s
Inauguration 1789 April 30 1889. This is a
323 page book with chapters entitled
“Preparatory Work”, “Services in the
Churches”, “Exercises in the Schools”, “The

6

Mass Meetings”, “Centennial Addresses,” “The
Banquet — Toasts and Responses”, “The
Pyrotechnical Display” and finally “The Loan
Exhibition”. Details of what took place during
the celebration in April, 1889 are given in the
various chapters.

The loan exhibition was held in the Art
Rooms of the Exposition Building and
consisted of thousands of items loaned for the
occasion. Some 500 of the items on display
were listed. Numismatic items of interest
included the following:

18. Medallion of George
Washington, made in Paris

22. Four dollar continental bill paid
to Stephen Walker for his service in the
Revolutionary War.

25. A badge in yellow ribbon, with
Washington medallion worn at the
Inauguration of Washington.

97. Copper cent, 1787

98. Washington medal of 1781

1 18. A badge of the centennial

birthday of Gen. Washington.

125. A Washington penny, 1791.

127. Three pieces of Continental
money, 1767, 1776, 1780.

141. A rare portrait of Washington,
engraved by Savage, 1783. (Note: This was
the portrait that the 1783 Washington cents
resembled.)

466. Washington buttons worn by
citizens at time of the inauguration, 1789.

503. Washington medal, smallest
specimen ever made. (Note: This could refer to
the 1824 Washington-Lafayette medal, Baker
198 or the Lord’s prayer issues of 1889.)

In 1881 Cragin was listed as a co-owner
of Canadian patent CA12518 entitled
“Improvements on Pan Forming Machines”.

He was a major player in the Maritime Canal
Co. of Nicaragua incorporated in 1887. Their
aim was to build a canal from the Atlantic to
the Pacific through Nicaragua, but the work
was doomed from the start. Partial work was

done under dire conditions, but was suspended
in 1 890 when bankruptcy declared.

Cragin was most vocal about the United
States involvement in our affair with Spain
leading to the Spanish- American war of 1899.
Figure 2 displays an excerpt from the New
York Times of December 19, 1896. Cragin, as
Chairman of the local Cuban Relief Committee
gives a warning of bogus recruiting practices.

In 1901, Edward F. Cragin was Vice
President of the Equitable Life Assurance
Society. In 1902, Cragin was a Director of The
Trust Company of America and on the board of
The International Banking Corporation
established by the Connecticut Legislature in
June 1901.

One can only speculate that the original
award medal struck in honor of Cragin, would
have been in a precious metal — either silver or
gold. The white metal piece in the
Hendrickson collection is probably a die trial.
Since at least two specimens are known in
copper, undoubtedly others were struck for
members of the committee. Hopefully, a copy
of a precious metal issue will surface sometime
in the future.

7

Letters to the Editor

.Tohn-

I ran across this at the New York
Historical Society last week. It is a full page
ad, dated 1852, from a 16 page newspaper (The
Literary World, published in New York),
containing a fixed price list of (mostly) French
medals with at least one Comitia piece
included. Full citation is The Literary World
(1847-1853), New York: May 15, 1852. Vol.

10, Iss. 276; p. 351 (1 page).

Regarding the seller, one H. Bailliere,
he was a New York bookseller apparently of
French extraction. An advertisement elsewhere
places Bailliere at 290 Broadway, and
indicates: "H. Bailliere takes this opportunity of
announcing that he has within the last six
months [this, from 1851] made considerable
additions to his stock, and that he has now for
sale a large collection of standard and valuable
English and French works. ..He continues to
receive a case from Europe by almost every
steamer".

Joel thought this might interest you as it
is pre-Civil War and not mentioned in Attinelli,
Davis, or Bowers.

And if either of you can track down an
original copy of the Literary World for the date
in question, you will be able to make a quite
attractive broadside type of display!

H. Bailliere, the New York bookseller
referenced in the advertisement, was one
Hippolyte Emile Bailliere (1832-1876), son of
Pierre-Framjois Hippolyte Bailliere (1809-
1867). Pierre-Fran§ois was the brother of Jean-
Baptiste Bailliere (1797-1885), a French
bookseller and important publisher of medical
textbooks. Jean-Baptiste met success early in
life; indeed, by 1 824 his publishing catalog
contained forty titles. Jean-Baptiste later
opened branches throughout the world,
dispatching sons and nephews to the United
States, Australia, Germany and England. His
publishing firm survives to the present day,
based in Paris, currently operating under the
name Groupe JB Bailliere Sante.

H. Bailliere, and his brother Charles
Edmund Bailliere, were sent to the United
States in 1851 to expand the family business.
The Bailliere-Brothers Company, on Broadway
in New York, published from 1851 to 1868,
and also operated as a bookseller, as indicated
by an 1851 advertisement in Literary World :
“H. Bailliere takes this opportunity of
announcing that he has within the last six
months [this, from 1851] made considerable
additions to his stock, and that he has now for
sale a large collection of standard and valuable
English and French works. ..He continues to
receive a case from Europe by almost every
steamer.”

Among the medals listed, #1 is likely
the Societe Monty on et Franklin Medal (1833,
Fuld FR.M.SO.3), and by coincidence an
example is present in Stack’s January, 2008
(Americana) sale, lot 7167. #2 is probably the
Franklin Natus Boston, #3 the Washington
Before Boston, and of course #10 the Libertas

8

Americana. Clearly the unknown French
collector of medals had some interest in pieces
related to America.

Bibliograpy: Medicographia, Vol. 27, No. 1,
2005, accessed via medicographia.com.

Regards,

Len Augsburger.

9

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10

Dear John:

I just received the latest issue of the
MCA Advisory, and I wanted to congratulate
you on another fine issue. In my quest for
knowledge about medals, I always find that I
learn something new in every issue.

I wanted to drop you a note to continue
our correspondence on the George III Large
Size Indian peace medals that you mentioned in
an earlier message. I see that two different
medals of this type are offered at an upcoming
auction, and each has a different look to them.
One of the George III medals is described as
having well polished, highly reflective surfaces
which are typical of actual Indian wear and
usage. It also has old marks and scratches on
both sides. The other medal, however, is not
polished or reflective, and it has very nice steel,
lilac, and blue toning on both sides. There is an
absence of marks on this particular medal.

In the federal coin context, people tend
to look at things like wear, polish, nicks, marks,
etc. in a negative light. It seems that only the
most pristine examples of federal coins are
worthy of being collected, which is unfortunate
in my opinion.

In the Indian peace medal context, I
would be interested in hearing your views on
whether these characteristics (such as polish
and nicks) are more likely to be overlooked and
accepted, because it is expected that the medals
were actually worn by prominent Indian
chiefs. In a sense, does this evidence of use
actually add to the history and therefore, the
desirability, of the pieces? I would expect that
a pristine example of these medals would not
be nearly as interesting, especially since it is
likely that a pristine example was never even
worn or used by an Indian chief.

I would be interested in hearing your
thoughts.

Kind regards,

Michael Savinelli

Dear Barry Tayman and Mike Hodder,

The question Mike raises in the last
paragraph of his letter is one to which JJF
would have given a two page answer. All I
want from you is something shorter and I
will publish the lot in the February issue.

Many thanks,

John

Hi John,

Many seasoned collectors, myself
included, do not shy away from Indian peace
medals with evidence of wear and/or
polishing. Unlike worn coins, such marks are
generally accepted as legitimate evidence that a
peace medal was awarded, and worn by a
Native American. However, while some
medals show evidence of hard daily use over a
long period of time (substantial wear and/or
polishing on both sides, missing or replaced
hangers, crude holes in place of hangers, and
badly bruised edges), many others exhibit only
the kind of wear and/or polishing
commensurate with occasional use. One can
reasonably speculate that such medals were
worn only for important events.

I do not feel that a convincing argument
can be made that all high grade medals or
medals with minimal wear were not awarded
medals. More importantly, most peace medals
cannot be traced to the original recipients, and
the few that I am aware of that can, do not
exhibit evidence of extended hard use. Also,
the manner the manner in which peace medals
were worn likely varied among the different
tribes. Thus, before we can make any hard
conclusions on this subject, much work
remains.

Barry

11

Dear John:

Michael Savinelli asks a question that
seems to arise every so often and to which there
is no simple answer. In my experience I've met
collectors who will not have any Indian Peace
Medal that is better than VF to EF and shows
signs that it may have been used as intended by
the recipient. Chris Schenkel was a good
example of this kind, he often passed on medals
in AU or better grade simply because he didn't
think such pieces could ever have been worn
and passed down to descendants.

He contented himself in thinking that a
worn medal meant one that had been worn
(sorry) and that a pristine one had not. Those
collectors who favor the "circulated" medals
have usually been the more sophisticated ones,
those who've gone beyond a first reading of
Julian and Prucha and Belden and have looked
at treaty texts, visited institutional collections,
corresponded with modern tribal leaders,
studied historical relations with indigenous
peoples, and so on.

On the other hand, I've watched some
other collectors favor only AU and Unc
prooflike medals and spurning those in lesser
grades. These are typically men who've come
to the field from outside where the rules of
successful collecting stress condition as the
principal desideratum.

They are often new collectors. Some
want to complete a collection of all American
medals and do not feel uncomfortable including
off metal specimens never meant for award in
order to reach the goal.

One might conclude that I seem to favor
the former over the latter type but here's where
my answer necessarily starts getting fuzzy
around the edges. It doesn't take much thought
to realize that wear, alone, does not necessarily
mean a medal had been given to an indigene
and worn by him. Wear can be simulated. I've
seen a few Grant medals that were Fine to VF
but did not have holes for suspension. I've seen
what are to me obvious concoctions that were
also heavily worn. Yet there are holed silver

medals known out of long dug graves that are
AU and Unc and that must have gone into the
ground with their original recipients, so high
grade cannot by itself disqualify a medal from
being an awarded one.

Perhaps the only answer that might
satisfy is the one a collector finds for himself.
Since one cannot always judge an "original
presented" medal from a "government
remainder" by wear, and since so few medals in
the marketplace have credible pedigrees
attached to them, I take the position that any
genuine silver (and where appropriate, copper
or bronze) first peoples medal is a desirable
collectable regardless of condition. Each carries
with it the historical cachet that adds interest
and value to a medal, whether it's VF or AU.

We're really taking about
connoisseurship here, aren't we, and the first
steps along the rough path leading to that goal
are reading and study and mastery of the art of
discrimination. Indian Peace Medals is not a
field for the faint of heart but for me that's one
of its attractions, it's a field one will never
entirely master but it's fun getting better at it as
the years wind on.

Namaskars

Mike Hodder

Dear John,

I enjoyed the article on the Truxtun
medal in the recent MCA Advisory. Do you
have contact info for the authors? I thought
they might be interested to know that NYHS
has one of the extremely rare type 2 medals, as
well several of the other more common types.
I've attached images of the type 2, which came
to NYHS as a gift of James Hazen Hyde in
1947.

Hope all is well.

Sincerely,

12

Margi Hofer

Margaret K. Hofer
Curator of Decorative Arts
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

wealth of information on the numbers of
medals extant.

In the article, the authors write, "all
three known white metal examples of Truxtun's
medal exhibit tin pest, possibly because of the
alloy used." I have never heard of tin pest, so I
found a definition online which states,

“Tin pest is an autocatalytic, allotropic
transformation of the element tin, which causes
deterioration of tin objects at low
temperatures. It was observed in medieval
Europe that the pipes of church pipe organs
were affected in cool climates. As soon as the
tin began decomposing, the process sped up,
and seemed to feed on itself. During the
allotropic transformation (at about 56 degrees
Fahrenheit and below), pure tin transforms
from the (silvery, ductile) allotrope of white tin
to brittle, grey tin. Eventually it decomposes
into powder, hence the name tin pest."

Based on your travels, research, and
viewing of many, many medals, do you know
how common tin pest is with historical medals
and how many historical medals may have been
lost or damaged from this affliction? I believe
that some of the proofs of the Comitia
Americana medals were struck for Jefferson in
tin. Are any preventative measures being taken
to prevent these from getting the pest?

Thank you and keep up the good work
with the MCA Advisory!

Regards,

Michael Savinelli

Dear John:

I read the spectacular article in the most
recent issue of the Medal Collectors of
America's monthly journal about the Captain
Thomas Truxtun Congressional Medal. I really
liked the fact that the article was full of
historical information about Truxtun (I
certainly learned more about him), and it gave a

Hi John:

I've researched this topic and found
some interesting information. First, it would be
hard to apply the scientific data categorically to
all "tin" medals, since what we commonly refer
to as "white metal" or tin is usually a variable
alloy which may contain bismuth, antimony,
lead, copper or silver in addition to tin. Pewter
falls into this group with tin alloyed to copper

13

with varying amounts of lead, depending on the
quality of the pewter. I have some more
detailed information below, relating more to the
use of tin solders rather than its use in medal
production, but the same physical chemical
properties would apply. The risk of tin pest
would be greatest in those medals and coins
struck in pure tin or tin alloyed with copper
alone. Even so, the process is slow or
nonexistent if the coins and medals are stored
at normal room temperatures. At 13° C (55° F),
it would still take 18 months or more for the
appearance of the less dense, powdery alpha
form of tin. In my experience, I have many
"white metal" medals and tokens, few of which
demonstrate any pest formation. I have several
American Plantation tokens which have a few
small areas of corrosion which might represent
pest formation. These have a high tin content
and as a result, may have been more susceptible
to pesting, but the pieces I have has been stable
for some years. I will try to contact Susan
Maltby, who writes for Coin World on matters
of coin and medal conservation, and see if she
has any further information regarding the
prevention and treatment of tin pest.

Best regards,

David Menchell

WHAT IS TIN PEST?

(David Menchell’ s enclosure)

Tin is a metal that is allotropic, meaning
that it has different crystal structures under
varying conditions of temperature and pressure.
Tin has two allotropic forms. “Normal” or
white beta tin has a stable tetragonal crystal
structure with a density of 7.31g/cm3. Upon
cooling below about 13.2oC, beta tin turns
extremely slowly into alpha tin. “Grey” or
alpha tin has a cubic structure and a density of
only 5.77g/cm3 1.

Alpha tin is also a semiconductor, not a
metal. The expansion of tin from white to grey
causes most tin objects to crumble. The macro

conversion of white to grey tin takes on the
order of 18 months2. Figure 1, which is likely
the most famous modern photograph of tin
pest, [not included herein — ed.] shows the
phenomenon quite clearly. Figure 1.
Transformation of Beta-Tin into Alpha-Tin in
Sn-0.5Cu at T <10oC from Y. Karlya, C. Gagg,
and W.J. Plumbridge, “Tin pest in lead-free
solders”, Soldering and Surface Mount
Technology, 13/1 [2000] 39-40. This
phenomenon has been known for centuries and
there are many interesting, probably
apocryphal, stories about tin pest. Perhaps the
most famous is of the tin buttons on
Napoleon’s soldiers’ coats disintegrating while
on their retreat from Moscow. Since tin pest
looks like the tin has become diseased, many in
the middle-ages attributed it to Satan as many
tin organ pipes in Northern European churches
fell victim to the effect.

Initially, tin pest was called “tin
disease” or “tin plague”. I believe that the name
“tin pest” came from the German translation for
the word “plague” (i.e. in German plague is
“pest”). To most people with a little knowledge
of materials, the conversion of beta to alpha tin
at colder temperatures seems counter intuitive.
Usually materials shrink at colder temperatures,
not expand. Although it appears that the
mechanism is not completely understood, it is
likely due to grey alpha tin having lower
entropy than white beta tin. With the removal
of heat at the lower temperatures a lower
entropy state would likely be more stable.

Since the conversion to grey tin requires
expansion, the tin pest will usually nucleate at
an edge, corner, or surface. The nucleation can
take 10s of months, but once it starts, the
conversion can be rapid, causing structural
failure within months.2 Although tin pest can
form at <13.2oC, most researchers believe that
the kinetics are very sluggish at this
temperature. There seems to be general
agreement in the literature that the maximum
rate of tin pest formation occurs at - 30oC to -
40 oC. 1 THE EFFECT OF AFLOYING

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ELEMENTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT ON
TIN PEST Several alloying metals retard or
eliminate the formation of tin pest. The most
effective tin pest retarding alloying elements
are bismuth, antimony, and lead.3 There are
limited data that suggest that silver has a
retarding effect on tin pest formation, however
the effect appears to be moderate at best.

Hence, many people assume that it is not
proven that silver significantly retards the
formation of tin pest, especially in field or use
conditions. A “rule of thumb” is that alloying
metals that are highly soluble suppress tin pest.
This effect is likely due to the decoration of
dislocations or other defect sites that inhibit the
required lattice expansion. 3 Elements that are
not as soluble in, and that form intermetallics
with tin are less likely to suppress tin pest.3
Examples of such metals are copper and silver.
Table 1 is a summary of the effect of some
lead-free alloying elements on tin pest.

Alloying Metal Tin Pest Retardant %
Concentration for effective Inhibition Bi Strong
0.3 Sb Strong 0.5 Pb Strong 5.0 Cu None-
Weak ? » 5.0 Ag Weak- Mod ? > 5.0 Table 1.
Tin pest retarding effects of lead-free alloying
metals. Note that while bismuth and antimony
will suppress tin pest at concentrations of less
than 1%, about 5% by weight of lead is needed.
Silver suppresses tin pest, but at a much
reduced level. Copper is considered by most
researchers to have little effect. [Copper plugs
were added to tin medals in the 18 th century,
and these seem to work pretty well — ed.] It
is widely know that high pressure hinders the
formation of tin pest and tensile stress acerbates
it. These phenomena make sense when one
considers that anything that makes it easier to
expand the lattice (e.g. tensile stress) should
enhance the formation of tin pest, and anything
that compresses the lattice (e.g. compressive
stress) will retard tin pest formation. It is also
reported that tin oxide formation at the surface
will retard tin pest formation. Several
knowledgeable workers in the soldering field

believe that many unknown factors such as
organic contaminants probably retard tin pest

John:

Your research team is incredible! I
think I sent you that question on the 5th, and I
see that David's response came back to you on
the 6th. Pretty impressive! !

That answer is very informative, and
please thank David for taking the time to write
it. I hope it is OK for me to send these
questions to you and they are not burdensome.

I will try to scale back my enthusiasm, but this
area of numismatics is extremely interesting to
me!

Kind regards,

Mike Savinelli
John-

After the NYINC, I received something
really exciting, a medal for a bishop from
Colombia, cal730s. A portrait medal, cast
bronze, Italian school. 55mm? Very Fine
condition decently executed & decently cast.
There is no reason to doubt it is an original
cast. It is the earliest South American medal for
a non-Royal, and one of the earliest medals of
this hemisphere of a person who actually lived
& worked in the New World. Also, the first
Colombian medal. Also, the first New World
religious medal. I bought it in a London
auction and I could direct you to the catalog, lot
# and photo. (I assume it will still be archived
on-line).

In closing, thanks for all you've done &
continue to do for MCA. I was one of the
alleged founders and never figured out how to
shake loose from my business long enough to
contribute very much. You have come to the
task with drive, TALENT and a certain
democratic touch.

Paul Bosco

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Dear John,

I thought readers of the MCA Advisory
would like to know about some interesting
items coming up in the March 31, 2008 Coin
Galleries Mail and Internet Bid Auction.

For the collectors of American medals,
there will be a continuation of items from the
Franklinton Collection which began in our
February 2008 Baltimore auction. These fall
mostly in the field of U.S. Inaugural Medals of
the second half of the 20th century and include
many rare variants. For those whose tastes run
a bit earlier, the Naval Historical Foundation in
Annapolis, Maryland has consigned its
holdings of Admiral Vernon medals,
representing one segment of Leander
McCormick-Goodharf s collection. There are
over 100 pieces in all grades from About Good
to Uncirculated, with a great variety of types
represented and little duplication.

For those more interested in more non-
American themes, I should mention a very
comprehensive collection of Swiss shooting
medals (over 160 pieces), in addition to a
varied collection of Romanian medals and
decorations from the collection of Nicolae
Caranfil. And of course we have a variety of
medals from our other consignors.

The sale will be online soon, and
catalogues will be in the mail shortly as well.
For those in our membership who are not on
Stack's/Coin Galleries mailing list who would
like to receive a copy of the catalogue, they can
drop me a line at VICKENY@STACKS.COM
and I'll get one out to them.

Best,

Vicken Yegparian

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OUESTIONAIRE

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Or email completed form to: bdtayman @ verizon.net
MCA WEBSITE: http://www.medalcollectors.org

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